Railway draft rigging



July 4, 1933. H. J. LoUNsBuRY 1,916,846

RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING Filed Feb. 13, 1Q28 2 Sheets-Sheet l Si w July 4,1933. H. J. LouNsBuRY RAILWAY DRAFT RIGGING Filed Feb. 1s, 192s 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 4, 1933 PTlhl'f @FFME HARVEY J. LOUNSBUBY,OTE GLEN ELLYN, 'ILLNOS, ASSEGNOB T0 Vf. MINER, NG.,

F CHICAGO, ILLINOXS, A CORPORATXON OF DELAVARE RAIL/VY DRAFT RG-GEN@Application filed February 13, 1928.

This invention relates to improvements in railway draft riggings.

It is well known to those skilled in the art, that it is highlydesirable, under the present severe conditions of railroad operation, toprovide draft gears having a much longer stroke than is now customarilyemployed, particularly in buff in order to absorb the exceedingly heavybufflng shocks. t is also desirable to avoid any increase in train slackover that permitted by present day practice, which is ordinarilyconfined to 2% for each draft gear'. In providing such increased shockabsorbing capacity with longer buff action, it is necessary, from a.practical standpoint, to confine the draft gear to the standard sillspacing of 12% and to avoid any increase in the over-all height of thegear proper, in order that its center line may be disposed in alinementwith the center line of the coupler at the standard distance above therails.

One object of my invention is to provide a very simple and efficientarrangement of draft rigging for railway cars wherein is provided thedesirable long travel or compression stroke in a buff action and which,at the same time, is restricted, in the draft action, to a relativelyshorter travel or conipression stroke, whereby to absorb efficiently andsmoothly the heavy bufling shocks and cushion the draft shocks withoutincrease of train slack. l

Another object of my invention is to provide a draft rigging of thecharacter above indicated wherein is employed a friction shock absorbingdevice so associated with front follower acting means that the shockabsorbing device is actuated or compressed during a buffing strokeindependent of any action of the front follower acting means during theinitial portion of the compression stroke, whereby to obtain the desiredlong travel, the parts being further so arranged that said followeracting means come into play during the entire draft action and areutilized to limit the draft stroke to one less than the bufling stroke.

Another object of my invention is to provide a draft rigging arrangementof the,

Serial No. 253,878.

character' indicated in the preceding paragraphs wherein undesirableoverhang or undue projection ef the friction elements of the frictionshock absorbing device is avoided, while providing the desired longercompression stroke, to the end that the eiliciency and life of thefriction device will. not be impaired.

Another obglect of my invention is to provide a draft rigging of thecharacter indicated wherein the ultimate bufiing and draft forces aretransmitted in the most eflicient manner to the shell or cage of thefriction shock absorbing device with uniform distribution of the loadtherearound, to thus obtain the best column effect of the friction shelland minimize the tendency to bend the follower.

Other objects of the invention will more clearly appear from thedescription and claims hereinafter following.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, 1 is alongitudinal, vertical, sectional view of a portion of a railway carshowing my improvements in connection therewith, the parts being in fullrelease. 2 is a horizontal, longitudinal, sectional view correspondingsubstantially to the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 8 is a detail, transverse,vertical, sectional view corresponding to the line 3-3 of 1. And Fig. 4;is a view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating a somewhat different embodimentof the invention.

Referring first to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs.1, 2 and 3, 10-10 denote the usual channel draft sills of a railway carunderframe which, in the instance shown, constitute parts of the centersills and to which is connected the usual bolster indicated at 11, thesame having a combined center iiller and abutment casting 12, the latterbeing forwardly extended and having transversely extending upper andlower vertical webs 13-18 which constitute the rear stop members of thedraft gear. Said webs 13 are suitably reinforced by flanges 113 and itwill also be noted that the two stop webs 13 are so separated,vertically, as to provide a combined guide and support for the rear endof the horizontal yoke indicated .generally by the reference characterA. At the end of the car, the sills 10 are cut away to provide slots forthe coupler key 14, the openings in the sills being reinforced bycastings 15-15 having elongated key slots 16-16 therein. In thisembodiment of the invention, the frontstops are provided by an uppercasting B and a lower casting C each riveted to both sills. Said uppercasting B has a front vertical end wall 17 adapted to 'act as a strikingplate, a. horizontal web 18, a second horizontal web 19 downwardlyoffset from the web 18, and a. vertical web 2() constituting the upperstop proper, said web 2O being reinforced by a horizontal flange 21. Thelower casting C comprises a horizontal bottom wall or web 22 and avertically extending web 23 constituting the lower front stop proper,said web 23.being suitably reinforced by strengthening flanges 24.

In carrying out my invention, in addition to the yoke A, I employ a.standard coupler D; a front follower E; and a friction shock absorbingdevice indicated generally by the reference character F. The follower Eand device F are suitably supported in operative position by detachablesaddle plates Z5-*25.

The yoke A is of the horizontal. type, as before mentioned. the sidearms 26-26 thereof being integrally united at their front ends by abox-like section having side walls 27-27, a bottom wall 28 and top wall29. The side walls 27 are suitably thickened, as best indicated in Fig.2, to provide the necessary bearing for the coupler key 14 and the innersurfaces of said walls are outwardly flared as indicated at 127, topermit lateral motion of the coupler D. The top and bottom walls 29 and28 are'disposed at the outer end of the yoke and extend to pointssubstantially in line with the usual horn of the coupler, the top wall29 having a vertically extending flange 30 and the bottom wall 28 adepending flange 31. The upper flange 3() normally bears against thehorn of the coupler and is adapted to engage the buffer plate, 17 uponextreme buff movement. The side walls 27 are ext-ended downwardly oneach side of the yoke by means of vertical flanges 32 32, the loweredgesof the latter riding upon and being supported bv the lower wall 22of the stop casting C. In this manner, the horizontal yoke is supportedin proper horizontal position vat its front end and the necessaryalinement of the coupler shank with the axis of the shock absorbingdevice maintained. It will further be observed that, in any operativeposition of the parts, there is no possibility of the coupler droopingor being tilted upwardly, inasmuch as the yoke A and coupler are at alltimes maintained in their alined position.

The friction shock absorbing device F, as shown, comprises a rectangularcombined `lfriction shell and spring cage casting 33 within which iscontained the usual main spring resistance (not shown). As shown, thefriction shed proper is provided with liners 311 with which cooperateopposed friction shoes S5-35 and with the latter co-acts apressuretransmitting wedge 3G. In this connection, as clearly apparentfrom Fig. 1, it will be observed that. the outer end face of the wedge36 in full condition of the gear, is located a point beyond the open endof the shell an amount not greater than that now commonly employed infriction shock absorbing devices having only about 2% travel. Also,itwill be noted, that the co-acting wedge faces of the wee-ige 3S and theshoes 35-35 are disi'xosed within the outer end of the friction shell.This is of importance in a friction shock absorbing device, inasmuchasundue overhang or extension of the shoes and wedge beyond the open endof the shell is voided and consequently the tendency to spread laterallyor create a bell mouth7 condition f 'the friction shell is eliminated orminimized. rhis arrangement of the shoes and wedge is obtainable in myconstruction by reason of the special formation of the front follower Eand pressure-transmitting member about to be described.

Referring to the front follower E, the same of heavy. thick formationand is provided on the front side thereof with a rectangular depressioner recess 37 having a. somewhat.

'.aring' month 38, the depth of the recess 37 being suilicient toaccommodate the correspondingly shaped flange 39 of the pressuretransmitting member et() so that, upon suilicient movement ofthecoupler. the said flange will lie completely wit-hin the recess of thefollower E. On its rear face, the follower E provided with a rectangularenlargement or boss -ll having beveled edges 42, said boss 41 beingcentrally located and of such area that it overlies the outer face ofthe wedge 36, but small enough so as to permit its entrance within theopen end of the friction shell 33 and thus permit the flat portions onthe inner face ofthe follower E to come into full face engagement withthe outer end edges of the shell 353 at the end of a full compressionstroke, rE "hc .follower E is further provided with a rectangularcentrally disposed opening 44 for 'the reception of thepref-:suire-transmitting member L10. The pressure transn'iitting membere() has the annular iange 39 previously descril'ied and inwardly of thelatter is of rectangular formation to a point fiush with the inner faceof the boss -ll. A shoulder is there provided by reducing the section ofthe pressure transmitting member to that of a square extension 45 whichpasses through an opening in the outer wall of the wedge 36 and engagesthe inner wall 45 of the wedge. as best shown in Fig. 1. At its frontend, the pressure transmitting member or plunger 40 is provided with aforwardly extended tapered stud 47 which enters an opening' 48 in thebutt end of the coupler and by which the plunger is maintained centeredVith respect to the coupler.

In a buff action, the friction shell 33 is held stationary by the rearstops 13-13. As the coupler moves inwardly, the pressure transmittingmember or plunger 4() moves simultaneously therewith and directlyactuates the wedge 36 of the friction gear, thus obtaining a compressionstroke of the gear corresponding to the inward movement of the coupler.It will be observed that this movement occurs independent of anymovement of the follower' E until such time as the flange 39 of theplunger is fully seated within the recess 3'? and thereafter thefollower E will move in unison with the coupler and plunger until thebalance of the compression stroke in buff is taken up, the limit beingobtained when the outer portions of the follower E engage the end of thefriction shell, as previously described. lt will thus be seen that theultimate bufiing blow is well distributed through the follower to theend portions of the shell and through the latter as a column to the rearstops 13-13- In actual practice, the compression buff stroke willpreferably approximate 5 or In dra t, outward movement of the coupler Dcauses a simultaneous movement of the yoke A and the l atter in turnmoves the shell 33 forwardly. During this draft action, the wedge 3G ofthe friction device bears against the then stationary front follower Eand consequently the friction device is actuated, as will be understood.rIhe draft action continues until the shell 33 comes into engagementwith the follower E and this stroke will preferably be limited to about23/4, the present standard practice. During the draft action, it will beobserved that the plunger 40 is inactive and may or may not moveslightly,

4dependent upon the amount of friction between it and the coupler. Itwill also be observed that the ultimate blow in the draft action istransmitted most efficiently through the shell actingr as a column tothe outer portions of the follower E and from the latter to the upperand lower front stops B and C.

Referring' to the modification shown in Fig'. 4, the arrangement ofcoupler, front follower, friction shock absorbing` device and pressuretransmitting' member or plunger is the same as that shown in the firstthree figures. In the 4 modification, the arrangement is shown adaptedto the use of :1. yoke of the vertical type, the same beine; indicatedat G. This yoke, per se, is or may be the same as that disclosed in myapplication, Serial No. 238,751, led on or about December 9, 1927, nowPatent 1,743,042, granted January 7, 1930, and need not be heredescribed in detail. In this modification of the invention, verticalfront stop lugs 123 and 123 are provided with which the front followerengages, said front stops being formed integral with end castingshaving` the coupler ley slots 1.16 formed therein. 'l he rear stops arearranged vertically as indicated at 113--113, the same being preferablycast integrally with the bolster center filler tastingl 112. Theoperation of the device shown in Fig. 4 is obviously the same as thatshown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 and above described.

I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferredmanner of carrying out my invention, but the same is merely illustrativeand l contemplate all changes and modifications that come within thescope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

l. lo railway draft rigging, the combination w 1 a shock a forliiine;mechanism including' a f tion ell open at one end, and "ion means withinthe shell, said shell and fri-tion means being' relatively movablelengthwise of the mechan' 1 and said shell yt movement inwardly of lshell heine` movable outl of a ina-in follower, said l and shell beingrelatively movable and ,ay from cach other, and said kurg held againstoutward moveo follower having;v a main portion enn Vable with said shellto limit relative movement of the shell and follower, and an inwardlyoffset central portion adapted to ent-er the she-ll, said offset portionbeing engage/able with said friction means during a d faft action; and apressure transmitting ,ver adapt-ed to receive l'niflingl forces eX- jthrough said follower and relatively movable with respect to the same,said plunger eng/agi f the friction means to actnate the friction `meansduring' inward or bufiingg movement of the plunger.

lhway draft i t7ing, the combination with a shock absorbing; mechanismin- 2 In a a friction shell open 'at one end and friction means withinthe shell, said shell d means beine; relatively movable lengththemechaLL ism, and said shell being nst movement inwardly of the riginbult, shell being; movable outwardly in draft; of a coupler; a mainfollower relatively movable with respect to the friction shell legthwise of the rigging and beh held aga.V .st outward movement in Lfollower having' a main portion with the shell to limit relative ent ofthe shell and follower, and a central projection on one side of saidfollower adapted to ente, the shell and engage said friction means toactuate the same when ther shell and follower are moved relatively toeach other during movement of the coupler in one direction; and apressure transmitting plunger extending through the follower and movablewith respect thereto lengthwise of the mechanism, said plunger whenmoved inwardly in buff engaging the friction means to actuate the same.

S. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with a coupler; 4of shockabsorbing means including a friction shell and friction meanscooperating therewith, said shell being movable outwardly in draft andheld against movement inwardly of the rigging in buff; a main followerheld against outward movement in draft, said main follower and shellbeing movable relatively to each other lengthwise of the mechanism, thefollower having a portion engageable with the shell to limit relativemovement of the shell and follower, said follower also having an openingtherethrough and a boss surrounding said opening on the side of saidfollower facing the friction shell and adapted to enter the shell andengage and actuate said friction means; and a pressure transmittingplunger interposed between the coupler butt and the friction means, saidplunger being freely reciprocable in the opening of said follower7 saidfollower having a depression in the face thereof on the side opposite tosaid boss adapted to accommodate the butt end portion of thecoupleisliank upon full inward movement of the coupler in buff.

4. In a railway draft rigging, the combination with a front followerheld against outward movement in draft; of a friction shock absorbingmechanism including a friction shell open at the forward end andfriction means within the shell, said shell being held against inwardmovement in buff, said shell and follower being relatively movablelengthwise of the rigging, and relative movement of said shell andfollower being limited by engagement of the outer end of the shell withsaid follower; a coupler having greater movement in buffl than in draft,the butt end of said coupler being movable inwardly beyond the outer endface of said follower when the follower is at its outer limit ofmovement, said follower having a projection on the inner side thereofadapted to freely telescope within the open end of the shell and engagesaid friction means, said follower being recessed on the outer side toaccommodate the inner end of the coupler butt when the latter is movedin vardly in buff, said follower having an opening therethrough; and apressure transmitting plunger extending through the opening of thefollower and freely movable therein, said plunger being interposedbetween the but-t end of the coupler and the friction means andtransmitting the actuating force from the former to the latter during abuffing action and affording a longer stroke of the coupler in bufl1than in draft.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 8th day of Febr. 1928.

HARVEY J. LOUNSBURY.

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